Patriots win junior college national basketball title

The College of Central Florida men's basketball team beat in-state foe Northwest Florida State 74-69 on Saturday night to win the NJCAA championship.

Courtesy of CF Sports Information

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The College of Central Florida men’s basketball team is the NJCAA national champion.The Patriots (34-3) built a 15-point lead and held off a late charge by Northwest Florida State on their way to a 74-69 win in the NJCAA national championship game on Saturday night.“I’m proud of my guys,” CF coach Tim Ryan said. “We knew that (NWFS) was going to make a run, but my guys did a great job and made the plays there at the end.”CF, which claimed its first national title in men’s basketball and first in any sport since the school’s girls tennis claimed a national title in 2001, became the third program from Florida to win the national title and first since 1995. It was also the first NJCAA title game to feature two teams from the state in 58 years.Eugene McCrory scored 23 points and earned the tournament MVP award, as he finished with 71 total points.Rasham Suarez earned all-tournament honors for CF, while Ryan was honored as the tournament’s best coach.CF trailed by five early in the first half, but made six straight shots, including a 3-pointer by Will Saunders with 6:45 left before halftime and led 24-19.Things got even better for CF over the next several minutes. The Patriots dominated down the stretch of the opening half, as they used a 16-2 run, capped by a basket by Eason with 3:29 remaining before halftime, which made the score 35-21.Prior to that, Eason’s basket with 7:20 left in the first half gave CF the lead for good and the sophomore forward had seven points during the run.NWFS got as close as nine before halftime, but CF pushed it back to 12, before the Raiders got to within 43-33 at halftime.The Patriots held NWFS star guard Chris Jones scoreless for the first half and the Louisville signee also had three fouls over the first 20 minutes.For the half, the Patriots made 15-of-30 shots and outrebounded the Raiders 25-13.Suarez scored 13 over the opening 20 minutes, while McCrory and Eason had 12 and 11 points respectively.The Patriots didn’t stop early in the second half, as Parks scored seven quick points and pushed his team’s lead to 50-35 with 17:43 remaining in the game.CF maintained a 15-point lead at the 16:13 mark of the second half, but the Raiders got eight straight points from Jones during a 13-1 run which made the score 55-52 with 12:33 left.NWFS got as close as three on two occasions overall, but McCrory hit a huge pair of free throws and Saunders hit another 3-pointer at the 6:40, as CF led 64-56.Saunders then hit a pair of free throws with 4:40 remainng to push the Patriots to a 10-point edge.After NWFS got to within eight, Suarez banked in a 3-pointer to make the score 71-60, before the Raiders scored seven straight points to come to within four with 1:15 left.The Raiders attempted to press the Patriots, but McCrory got free for a dunk at the 1:05 mark and Davis got a free throw with under 10 seconds left to clinch the title for CF.“Credit (CF) for the way they defended us,” said NWFS coach Steve Forbes, whose team lost in the national title game for the second straight year. “The last time we played them, we shot too many 3-pointers against their 2-3 zone and then tonight we didn’t finish (at the basket).“CF did a great job with its 2-3 zone. You can’t stand out and just shoot 3-pointers against the 2-3, and we just couldn’t finish.”